Saturday, June 18, 2011

Winning Friends

Well, I doubt this will win me any friends, however...

It is extremely unlikely I will get killed at work. There is a slim chance, but my workplace is not known to be too unsafe. Should I get killed at work, my family and friends will come to my funeral. The Prime Minister will not.

Yet, if I joined the army, and I was killed in my workplace, the Prime Minister will come to my funeral.

Isn't being in the army inherently dangerous? If the bastardisation doesn't get you, or a sexual assault, or being forced to exercise until you die, a sniper in Afghanistan may well get you.

"The brave soldier killed by a sniper in the service of his country".

No, he or she may be brave or perhaps a coward. Just because they died does not make them brave.

In service for their country? That is exactly what I do. I am in service for the people of Melbourne, Australia and people from all over the world. Mine is a paid job and so is the soldier's. I may not be fighting for Queen and country as a soldier may be, but is that what he or she thought upon joining the armed services?

I am fine with an armed service person's death being significantly reported as it is a measure of our foolishness being involved in foreign wars and the toll does need to be noted. But that the Prime Minister and or all sorts of official types see the need to attend every soldier's funeral seems overkill to me.

I suppose the way things are going in Afghanistan means my issue will sort itself out. There will be too many funerals for the PM to attend and still govern the country.

Partner's of police often think of the dreaded knock at the door, as partner's of soldiers fear the same. Yet it is less of a shock for them if the worst happened than if someone knocked at my door to tell my partner of my death in a workplace accident.

Did the west really think they could succeed in Afghanistan when the Soviet Union failed?

9 comments:

These politicians are locked in now; just like they are locked into these potentially endless wars.

They don't know how to extricate themselves. How many deaths is too many for them to continue attending funerals? Whose will be the first that they fail to attend or that they send a subordinate representative to? Will they bear any criticism of them when that point is reached?

How quickly they rush into these things, mostly in support of some other country's policy and self interest, without any clear object or realistic goals.

I can imagine the outcry from the people wondering why "their" brave soldier son isn't considered worthy of a politician attending his funeral, because they've stopped going to them. As far as I'm concerened they never should have attended in the first place.

This issue, like most of this governments 'policies' is ill-thought out and inconsistent. But we're supposed to equate 'attendance' with 'caring'. I suspect attendance will stop when the polls show it's doing more damage than good.

My public diary, not my private one. I live in a highrise apartment building in inner Melbourne. My interests are varied but top of the list are old buildings, history and public transport. You will find plenty of personal experiences to read in my blog too. Just be aware I am not an historian, amateur or otherwise. While I make some effort to be accurate, I don't do proper methodical research so I advise you check all details on your own behalf should you wish to quote me. Your comments are very welcome, but try to be nice to my fragile yet overblown ego. I enjoy receiving email. You can find my eddress in my complete profile.